Robin Conn / Huntsville TimesStone Manor resident Audrey Jones is being forced to leave her apartment by the housing Authority.

HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Audrey Jones, widowed a year ago, sold her home in English Village last summer to move into a well-lit and quiet, two-bedroom place at Stone Manor Luxury Apartments.

"I thought I was going to be here the rest of my life," Jones said. "I loved this place."

But what happens when the Huntsville Housing Authority, backed by federal regulations and federal dollars, converts your home into public housing while you still live there?

At age 73, Jones now counts herself among the "displaced persons" - residents forced to leave Stone Manor because they earn too much money. Some will get a few thousand dollars to help with relocation. Others won't get anything.

Most at Stone Manor have waited two months to learn where they fall, how much they might get and when they will be allowed to move.

"My life is on hold," said Lynn Fratesi, also among the displaced. "I used to love this place, now I'm just angry."

For residents, the first indication of what was to come arrived in a two-page form letter dated Feb. 27 -- the day after the sale of all 50 units at Stone Manor.

Jones likes the way the sunlight pours through four balcony doors overlooking a wooded lot. She likes the finish on the kitchen cabinets. She likes the two half-bathrooms divided by a separate room for the bathtub.

And she likes the monthly rent of $670. That includes water, cable and Internet.

But that first notice informed residents of the authority's ownership, and that those who make too much money would be forced to leave.

The first letter also warned that no one should move right away, not until they get a second letter called "a formal notice of relocation eligibility." Otherwise, they could miss out on thousands of dollars in federal compensation.

"We'll be sitting around for two months wondering if this notice is coming," said Catherine DeRisi, who works for Teledyne Brown Engineering and who also counts among the displaced.

As of Friday, Jones said she's still waiting. DeRisi said she received the second notice late Thursday. And it only made her angrier. "They are lowballing us," DeRisi said.

All asked to apply

Here's how it worked: After the first notice, which was dated Feb. 27, all residents were asked to apply for public housing. Carlen Williams, director of development for the authority, said those applications determined who qualified to keep their apartment and who didn't.

"I still resent the fact that I have to follow their rules," Derisi said. "I'm not a public housing resident. I never have been. I want my relocation expenses. And I want to be left alone."

From that point forward, residents would be divided into various categories. Some earned little enough to qualify for public housing and could keep their apartments. Many earned too much and have to leave. Some simply fled without applying.

But after that, most would wait more than six weeks for the next step in the process.

"I lose sleep because I worry about where I'm going to go," said resident Annie Harrison on Tuesday afternoon. "It's been an awful two months."

Harrison, a 26-year-old restaurant manager, has packed her dishes and emptied her bookcases. She watched her neighbor take away some furniture last Monday, while she continued to wonder: Will the authority help pay for me to move?

Harrison was getting mixed messages.

Harrison said she first got a letter saying she earned too much to stay. But then, she said, the authority changed its position. "Someone called me and said, 'No, honey, you're not going to have to move,' " Harrison said.

Robin Conn / Huntsville TimesStone Manor resident Audrey Jones is being forced to leave her apartment by the housing authority.

She was told she now qualified to stay. Several residents say they were first told the cutoff for an individual was $18,000 a year. But the authority last week said that individuals who earn less than $37,800 a year qualify for public housing assistance.

But even as late as April 23, Harrison held out hope for moving expenses. When asked if the people who earn little enough to stay might get moving expenses, Williams told a roomful of residents those would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Then last Wednesday, the authority officially ended such hopes. Williams said that anyone, like Harrison, who earns little enough to stay will not receive moving expenses.

"Because they are not being asked to move," Williams explained.

In order to stay, Harrison said she was told she'd have to give up her two-bedroom apartment for a one-bedroom. She plans to leave.

Apartment choices

"I still wrestle with the anger," said Jana Rice, a 30-year-old paralegal. "I'm now to the point where it's a total roller coaster of frustration, not knowing what you will hear tomorrow that will contradict what your heard today."

Rice did not qualify for public housing. Like others, she waited on the second notice.

That letter was to contain information on moving expenses, as well as a list of three nearby apartments with comparable facilities. If those suggested apartments cost more than she pays now, the authority will give her the difference in rent for 42 months.

"Every day I was told your letter is in the mail," Rice said of the relocation assistance. "I didn't get it and they said 'Sorry, we didn't really mail it when we said we did.' "

She said she eventually went down to the authority headquarters, but was told the relocation eligibility letters were on hold. DeRisi had the exact same story. Then on Thursday morning, an authority employee hand-delivered Rice's letter at work. DeRisi was given her letter Thursday afternoon.

Rice said her notice contained errors. For example, the authority suggested that she consider a two-bedroom with a fireplace at Waterford Square. She called. The apartments at Waterford do not have fireplaces, apartment manager Shirley Wright confirmed.

Rice said another suggested apartment complex was in a high-crime area with no outside living space. And a third had not been renovated in decades.

DeRisi received a different list. She said the suggested rents were too low, and reflected rates for unrenovated apartments. Next to the suggestion that she move across the street into Malibu Apartments, DeRisi simply wrote "unacceptable."

"You're going to scatter us and then scatter your people. None of this makes any sense," said DeRisi, who suggested the authority use vouchers to move the 140 families about to be relocated from Councill Courts downtown.

"Let them move into the apartments they're trying to make us move into."

Nothing comparable

At Stone Manor, Rice figures she has a good deal. She pays $655 a month for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment with Internet and cable.

Based on the authority's three suggestions, Rice could receive $3,900 over 42 months to offset her increased rent. She'll also get one-time moving expenses. She says it's inadequate for the loss of her home. All the residents interviewed for this story say they can't find anything comparable for the price.

Yet more than 15 neighbors earn too little and do not qualify for any financial help at all. They are invited to stay.

"They are being forced into public housing now, because you have people who can't afford to move," said Lynn Fratesi, who has taken the lead in challenging the housing authority. "How fair and just is that?"

Alicia Jacobs, a nursing student, refused to apply for public housing. She simply left.

"As a single parent, I'm 20 days from graduation, why in the world would I want to apply for public assistance?" Jacobs asked authority officials during a small meeting of Stone Manor residents on April 23.

Young and old, black and white, a small group of 20 residents gathered at Chaffee Elementary School, sitting in the same lunchroom where weeks earlier hundreds of homeowners had angrily protested the creation of permanent public housing in south Huntsville.

This time, the room seemed quiet, empty. One resident wore his military uniform. Another arrived in running clothes. One young couple brought an infant. A young mother took notes of all that was said.

Michael Lundy, executive director of the authority, announced that the authority had secured a special waver to honor the current leases of all residents, regardless of income levels. This means they will not get 90-day vacate notices.

"We're hopeful that will relieve some of the stress associated with you having to move out," Lundy told residents.

None of the residents interviewed for this story welcomed the prospect of staying. For example, Rice, having recently signed an 18-month lease, could remain until next summer. But she won't.

"Public housing," she explained. "Nothing against the people, but when you go to college, public housing is not where you want to live. The American dream is to do better."

'Meeting way too late'

In April, the authority also announced that one caseworker wasn't enough for Stone Manor. More than seven weeks after the purchase, they brought in a team of five.

"That meeting was way too late," Rice said. "That was the meeting they should have called at the end of February, the beginning of March."

Residents peppered Lundy with all sorts of concerns. Internet access had gone on and off since the authority took ownership. They complained about seeing an increase in roaches. They asked about future use of the swimming pool.

Williams later reported that a problem with a router had affected the Internet access and the alarm system. Both were now fixed. She said the authority has the same schedule for pest control as the previous owner. Lundy told residents that night that the pool needs repairs.

He also reminded residents that the authority would have to go and inspect their new apartments or homes if they want moving expenses. "You realize how insulting that is?" Jones asked.

"We want to make sure you get equal what you have or better," Lundy answered.

Asked about Jacobs indignancy at even being asked to apply for public housing, Lundy said: "They have their own opinions."

He said public assistance isn't for everyone. Sitting in the Chaffee lunchroom, Lundy recounted swallowing his own pride to use food stamps for a few months in college. "I had to swallow hard."

The authority officials at that meeting said Jacobs could qualify for moving expenses, even though she refused to apply for public housing.

And it doesn't stop there.

The authority is also trying to track down anyone who moved during the winter months, Williams said. That includes the time between late November, when the authority approved the purchase, and the first week of March, when it let the residents know.

Paige Rucker, authority spokeswoman, said as of Wednesday that 10 families who do qualify for public housing will stay. Those interviewed for this story knew of only two.

One resident who planned to stay, but asked to withhold her name, said that last week she met a young mother from Councill Courts who brought her three children to look at Stone Manor. The authority could not provide arrival dates for the first new tenants.

Lundy has said the clock is ticking and 140 families will be moved this year from the old Councill Courts development downtown. Many could end up at Stone Manor.

'Want answers now'

As homeowners have fought the creation of permanent public housing in south Huntsville, many have viewed the protests as fraught with racism. "There is a serious element of not wanting to be near black folks," said Rev. T.C. Johnson during a City Council meeting last month.

About 83 percent of public housing residents in Huntsville are black. The long-term plan is to break up the large developments downtown in favor of smaller apartments in all parts of the city. Some city leaders, like Councilman Will Culver, have applauded the plan. Others, like Councilwoman Sandra Moon, have questioned the strategy.

Yet both Moon and Culver agree that it's less than ideal to force people out of their homes. In fact, city leaders have urged the authority to buy smaller properties in the future.

Rucker acknowledged last week that the authority didn't anticipate some problems connected with Stone Manor. "These are not the typical residents we are used to dealing with," Rucker said on Wednesday. "They want answers and they want them now."

The federal process takes time, she said. "We are going above and beyond to do everything we can to accommodate everyone based on the guidelines we have to follow."

For the last month, Lynn Fratesi has been paying rent at an apartment she hasn't been able to move into.

During this time, Fratesi has been the first to sign up to speak before the City Council, the authority board, even the noisy town meeting at Chaffee. She has said an employee of the authority approved that other apartment on the phone, and then denied it.

Fratesi said that Lundy has been helpful and considerate. Instead, she blames many of the problems on a lack of planning and poor communication. But during a public meeting, Fratesi also accused an authority employee of lying and falsifying notes.

"Everyone at our agency has only followed guidelines," Williams said, when asked of the public accusations. Rucker, the authority spokeswoman, said no staff member has the power to grant special permission to lease an apartment.

Fratesi's previously tidy living room is now strewn with the evidence of battle - papers and letters, housing codes, leases, phone bills, newspaper clippings, even photos of comparable apartments.

On April 1, Fratesi had been among a handful of residents to get a relocation letter. On Thursday, Fratesi received a revised version. This new relocation letter OK'd the move to the apartment in west Huntsville.

But she said she's worried about those who can't spend their vacation time fighting for fair compensation. And she's angry that those who need the money the most won't receive moving expenses.

"This is what scares me," said Fratesi. "There is nobody that controls them. There's nobody that they have to answer to. And I have huge issues. Everyone has huge issues."